Coil winder



Sept. 19, 1961 M. J. MATovlcH, JR 3,000,580

COIL. WINDER Filed Nov. 4, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 BY ou/M SePt- 19, 1961 M. J. MATovlcH, JR 3,000,580

com WINDER Filed Nov. 4, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENT OR. /1//7 C/EL J MV/C Je,

BY Q gw M 3,000,580 COIL WINDER Mitchel J. Matovich, Jr., 196 Lyndhurst, San Carlos, Calif. Filed Nov. 4, 1957, Ser. No. 694,437 Claims. (Cl. 252-4) This invention relates to coil-winding machines and, more particularly, to improvements therein.

In order to wind coils of wire upon coil forms, cornmonly known as toroids, it has been the practice to ernploy a circular mandrel upon which there is stored the required lengths of wire to be Wound prior to the beginning of the actual winding operation. During winding, the stored wire is transferred turn by turn to the portion of the workpiece, or form, on which it is desired to lay down the coil. The basic limitations on such an arrangement are that the center hole of the form through which the winding is to be made must be large enough to provide space for the required number of turns of wire, in addition to the circular mandrel upon which they are wound. There is no known automatic winding equipment which can handle the special case where a coil must be wound through two adjacent holes in a flat surface.

An object of this invention is to provide a novel, automatic coil-winding machine which does not employ a mandrel upon which there is prewound the length of wire required for the desired number of turns.

Another object of this invention is to provide a novel and useful automatic coil-winding machine which can be employed to wind turns of wire through two adjacent holes in a flat surface.

In a patent to Arthur J. Strong, entitled Process of Winding, Patent No. 751,816, there is shown a coil-winding arrangement suitable for winding turns on a toroidal form which does not use a prewound mandrel. Strong employs a closed loop of wire which is stretched between two spaced pulleys and which encloses the portion of the workpiece upon which turns of wire are to be laid. One end of a length of wire is attached to the closed loop of wire. The pulleys are then rotated until there has been drawn on the pulleys through the hole in the coil form a number of adjacent loops, or turns, equivalent to the number of turns of wire required upon the coil form. Thereafter, the free end of the wire is attached to the coil form and the turns are manually successively cast oil of the pulleys one by one. The pulleys are continued to be rotated until the slack in the wire is taken up, before the neXt loop is cast off. yIn this manner, the required number of wire turns are laid down upon the coil form.

The general concept found in the Strong patent lends itself to applications where it is desired to place a large number of turns on a coil form, or core, having an extremely small opening. =No mandrel has to be passed through the coil-form opening, which need only exceed the size of the wires to be passed therethrough. However, the system shown in the Strong patent does have a number of shortcomings in that it is by no means an automatic coil-winding system, and the amount of wire which is pulled through the coil form usually far eX- ceeds that which is actually necessary for winding the number of turns.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of an automatic coil-winding machine of the type wherein a closed loop of wire is rotated over two spaced pulleys and encloses the portion of the workpiece upon which wire turns are to be laid.

Yet another object of this invention is an improved arrangement for an automatic toroidal core-winding machine.

Still another object of the present invention is an arassess@ Patented Sept. 19, 1961 rangement for a coil-winding machine of the type having a closed loop driven by two spaced pulleys which does not pull more than the required amount of wire for the desired number of turns through a coil form.

Another object of the present invention is the provision of a novel, useful, and simple coil-winding machine.

These and other objects of the present invention are achieved by providing a coil-winding arrangement wherein a closed loop of wire is irst made over two spaced pulleys. The closed loop of wire has one end thereof passed through the opening in a workpiece in a manner to enclose within the loop that portion of the workpiece upon which the number of turns required are to be laid. There is attached to the closed loop of wire one end of the wire which is to be used for the purpose of making the actual winding. The pulleys are then rotated. This rotates the loop which operates to pull the wire attached to the loop through the opening in the form. As the loop is continued to -be rotated, it pulls suicient wire therewith to make an adjacent loop over the pulleys. 'Ihe pulleys are constructed in a manner so that the adjacent loop of wire is releasably held thereon. When the required amount of wire has been drawn over the pulleys, which is sufficient to provide the desired number of turns and lead lengths, means are provided for holding the other end of the wire which has not yet passed through the workpiece as the pulleys are continued to be rotated.

The pulleys are formed in a manner so that the adjacent wire loops may be slipped off of the pulleys when a tension is placed upon one end of the adjacent wire loop. In this manner, when the length of wire is no longer permitted to be pulled further by the driven wire loop, that portion of the length of wire which is closest to the end being held and which is over one of the pulleys will be slipped off of that pulley. As the wire loop continues to be rotated, a `first partial turn is taken about the workpiece. This partial turn then exterts a further pull upon the adjacent loop of wire on the other pulley, which is also designed to enable this portion of the wire to be slipped from the pulley while maintaining the wire under tension. As the loop continues to rotate, it will wind a complete turn over the workpiece. A deflector is positioned between the two pulleys to direct the wire being pulled by the loop back over the portion of the pulley which is employed for enabling the release of the wire from the pulley while maintaining tension thereon. In this manner, as the loop wire continues to rotate, the required number of turns are laid down on the desired portion of the workpiece.

The novel features that are considered characteristic of this invention are set forth with particularity in the appended claims.. 'Ihe invention itself, both as to its organization and method of operation, as well as additional objects and advantages thereof, will best be understood from the following description when read in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIGURE 1 is a front elevation of an embodiment of the invention showing the arrangement in an initial osition;

FIGURE 2 is a section through one of the pulleys taken along the line 2 2 of FIGURE l;

FIGURE 3 is a detail showing the manner of biasing one of the pulleys to maintain tension upon the wire loop; and

FIGURES 4, 5, and 6 are successive views showing the manner in which the embodiment of the invention operates to wind turns of wire in a toroidal opening.

Reference is now made to FIGURE l, showing a front elevation of an embodiment of the invention. The entire apparatus is supported upon a base 10. There is shown supported thereon a clamp, or vise, 12 of a suitable type for holding a small coil form 14. The coil form shown has a small opening through which it is desired to pass wire for the purpose of winding a number of turns on one side of the coil form. Wire for the required number of turns is fed from a spool I6, or wire supply source, through a wire-length measuring and clamping means 18. This is Well-known apparatus which measures the amount of wire passing therethrough and stops further passage of wire when the preset length has been passed therethrough.

A motor 2@ is supported on a base and by means of a belt 22 supplies driving power to a rst driver pulley 24. A second driver pulley 26 is driven by means of a belt 2.8 from the first driver pulley 24. A belt 30 drives a pulley 32 from the first driver pulley 24. A belt 34 drives a second pulley 36 from the driver pulley 26. The driver pulleys 24, 26 and the driven pulleys 32, 36 are all rotatably supported from a frame 38, which is mounted upon the base l0.

In order to wind a desired number of turns upon the portion of the coil form or workpiece, in accordance with the present invention, it is first required that a closed loop of wire `40 be made, which passes over the pulleys 3,2 and 36 and also encloses that portion of the workpiece `14, upon which it is desired that turns of wire be deposited. One end of a length of wire is then attached to the closed loop of Wire as by soldering. The length of wire 42 extends from a wire-length-measuringand-clamping means 18. This means is set to pay out only so much wire as is required for the desired number of turns on the workpiece, and any required lead lengths in addition thereto.

Before further proceeding with a description of how the invention operates, it is necessary to understand the construction of the pulleys 32, 36, which are employed in the invention. Accordingly, reference is now made to FIGURE 2, which shows a section of one of the pulleys taken along the lines 2-2 in FIGURE l. The belt 34 ts into a groove on the periphery of the pulley 36, whereby it may frictionally engage and drive said pulley. Another groove 444 is provided in the periphery of the pulley for the purpose of receiving the closed loop of wire 40. The edge of the pulley is chamfered. Within the face of the pulley adjacent the chamfered end, there are embedded four permanent magnets `46. These may better be seen in FIGURE l.

The pulley 36 is rotatably supported upon an axle 4S. The axle 48 is threaded and is attached to the support 39 by means of a bolt Si?. The bolt 50 also holds a hinged U bracket 52. The other end of the hinged U bracket has an opening wherein is inserted a bearing 54. The bearing is supported by the U bracket 52 in a manner to be coaxial with the pulley 36. The bearing 54 rotatably supports a disc member 56, which includes two portions. The outer portion 56A is made of a metal, which can be attracted by the magnet 46. The inner portion 56B is made of some smooth, nonabrasive dielectric material, such as hard rubber, which will not injure the insulation on the wire being employed for making the coil winding. It will be seen from FIGURE 2 that the disc 56 is attracted to the face of the pulley 36, which has a charnfered edge. Thus, the disc and the chamfered edge form a V slot. Into this V slot the closed loop of wire 40 will draw the following length of wire 42. It will be seen from this description that the disc is supported in a manner to be rotatable upon the same axis as the pulley, against which it is yieldably urged, and at the same time a wire which is in the groove formed by the chamfered disc can be pulled from off of the pulley between the disc and the pulley when one end is held.

FIGURE 3 shows an arrangement for spring-biasing the upper pulley 36, whereby it maintains tension upon the closed loop of wire. FIGURE 3 is a view along the lines 3-3 of FIGURE 2. The support 38 has the support member 39 pivotally attached thereto by a pin pivot 60.

A 3,000,580 Y Y o '4 Another pin 62 is attached to the support member 39 and carries therewith a spring 64. The pin 62 fits a guide hole 66 and the support 38. The spring 64 urges the support member 39 and thereby the upper pulley 36 upward away from the lower pulley 32.

Referring back to FIGURE l, it will be seen that when the motor 2@ is turned on a drive is applied to the pulleys 32, 36 through the belts 22, 2S, 30, 34, and the driver pulleys 24, 26. In rotating, the loop of wire 40 is also rotated by the pulleys, whereby it draws a length of the wire 42 through the opening in the workpiece 14 and around the two pulleys 32, 36. A jet of air is directed at the length of wire 42, which is being drawn by the loop 4G. The jet of air is directed through a nozzle 66 against the portion of the wire length to direct it into the slot formed between the chamfered edge of the pulleys and the disc 56, when the wire length is drawn over the lower pulley. The loop will continue to rotate and to draw the wire length 42 around the pulleys to form an adjacent loop to the closed loop.

Reference is now made to FIGURES 4, 5, and 6, which show the operation of the invention in wrapping a turn of wire around the desired portion of the workpiece. When the wire length measure 18 clamps the wire so that no further amount of wire is paid out and the wire loop 4t) continues to be rotated, tension is placed upon the adjacent loop over the pulley 32, so that it is pulled from the pulley between the disc and the face of the pulley adjacent the disc. FIGURE 4 shows the wire length 42 partially slipped from the pulley 32. As the loop continues to be driven, it will pull the wire length 42, now remaining, onto the other pulley 36. In order to insure that the wire length is in the slot formed by the chamfered edge and the disc, a deilector 70 (shown in FIGURE l) deects the portion of the wire 42, which is between the two pulleys, outward toward the slot. As the loop continues to be rotated, as shown in FIGURE 5', the adjacent loop formed by the remaining length of wire over the pulley 36, will be slipped from the pulley between the disc and the pulley face. The wire loop 40 will continue to be driven, whereby it completes a turn of the wire around the desired portion of the coil form or workpiece. As the loop is continued to be rotated, the position of the wire which is assumed is that shown in FIGURE 6. The deflecting member 70 again will deilect the portion of the Wire 42 now remaining, so that as it is drawn by the closed loop of wire, it will t into the slot from which it can be removed between the face of the pulley 32 and the disc yieldably attracted thereto.

The operation described continues until the requisite number of turns have been made. The length of wire which is pulled by the loop will be alternately wound on a pulley and slipped thereoff in the course of this operation. The machine may be made to automatically stop when the number of turns taken by the pulleys after the wire-length-measuring-and-clamp means is operated indicates that the requisite number of turns of wire have been made.

From the above description, it will be seen that the embodiment of the invention operates to draw only the length of wire required for winding the desired number of turns on the coil form. Once this has been done, the invention immediately commences such winding operation automatically, without the necessity for any manual intervention. The wire is wound under a constant tension as a result of the holding effect of the disc attracted by the magnets embedded in the face of the adjacent pulleys. For a large number of turns where a large length or" wire is required, accommodation can be readily made by spacing the pulleys further apart and for short wire lengths the pulleys may be spaced closer together.

The use of the magnets embedded in lthe pulleys is a preferred form of this invention. Alternatively or jointly, springs may also be used to provide the required tension. For example, as shown in FIGURE 2, a spring 5l is used to apply tension to the arm of the U bracket 52 to bring the disc to bear against the face of the pulley. Furthermore, instead of holding the wire 42 by means of the wire length measure and clamp after a sufcient wire length has been fed on the pulleys, it may be more desirable to solder the trailing end of the wire which has been fed to the adjacent wire loop, whereby the wire itself pulls the ends of the loops over and ott of the pulleys.

There has accordingly been described and shown above a novel, useful, and simple automatic coil-winding arrangement which can rapidly wind the desired number of turns of wire on any type of coil form having either a closed or an open opening, and, further, a winding can be passed between the central portion of a workpiece which is between two openings, simply by the expedient of forming the closed loop of wire so that it rotates through the two openings instead of having only one side of the closed loop passing through the one opening. Although only one embodiment of the invention has been shown, this should not be construed as a limitation thereon, since to those skilled in the art, other variations of the structure may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of this invention.

I claim:

1. In a coil-winding machine of Ithe type wherein a closed loop of wire is rotated by means of a pair of rotatably mounted spaced pulleys around the portion of a workpiece around which it is desired to wind wire turns to pull a length of wire attached to said closed loop on said pulleys to form an adjacent loop, the improvement comprising a groove in the periphery of each pulley Within which said closed loop is retained on said pulleys, a chamfered edge on each pulley, a disc for and associated with each pulley, means for rotatably supporting each said disc coaxially with each its associated pulley adjacent its chamfered edge, means for yieldably urging each said disc against its associated pulley to form with said chamfered edge a slot for retaining `an adjacent loop, and a means for each pulley to direct an adjacent loop into said slot.

2. In a coil-winding machine as recited in claim 1 wherein each said means for each pulley to direct an adjacent loop into said slot includes means for directing air under pressure at said wire length as it is iirst being pulled over a pulley, and a defiector member positioned between said two pulleys for deecting wire moving thereacross in the direction of said discs.

3. In a coil-winding machine of the type wherein a closed loop of wire is rotated by means of a pair of rotatably mounted spaced pulleys around the portion of a workpiece around which it is desired to Wind wire turns to pull a length of wire attached to said closed loop on said pulleys to form an adjacent loop, the improvement comprising a groove in the periphery of each pulley within which said closed loop is retained on said pulleys, a chamfered edge on each pulley, magnetic means embedded in the face of each pulley adjacent said chamfered edge, a disc for and associated with each pulley made of a material which can be attracted by said magnetic means, means for rotatably supporting each said disc coaxially and in proximity with its associated pulley to be attracted thereto by said magnetic means to form a slot with said chamfered edge for retaining an adjacent loop, means positioned at each one of said pulleys to direct a wire length attached to said wire loop into the slot formed at one of said pulleys, and means between said pulleys to deflect a wire length being pulled thereacross into the slot of either one of said pulleys.

4. A coil-winding machine of the type for winding a coil on a toroidal form comprising a pair of pulleys, means for rotatably supporting said pulleys spaced apart from one another, means for spring biasing one of said pulleys away from the other of said pulleys, means for rotatably driving said pulleys, a deflector member positioned between said pulleys, means to direct air under pressure along the periphery of one of said pulleys, a. closed wire loop having one side passing through said rform and having a trailing length which is clamped at its free end, each of said pulleys havin-g a groove in the periphery thereof to receive said closed-wire loop over both of said pulleys, a chamfered edge adjacent said groove, a plurality of magnets embedded in the face of said pulley adjacent said chamfered edge, a disc having a diameter larger than that of the pulley face in which said magnets are embedded, said disc including a material which is attracted by said magnetic material, said deector member guiding said trailing length of wire between a chamfered edge and disc of first one and then the `other of said pulleys as said pulleys are rotated by said means for rotatably driving said pulleys, and means supporting said disc to be yieldably held against said pulley face by said magnetic material and to be rotatable with said pulley to enable said trailing length of wire to be pulled between each said disc and pulley as it is wound around said toroidal form.

5. In a coil-winding machine of the type wherein a closed loop of wire is rotated by means of a pair of rotatably mounted spaced pulleys around the portion of a workpiece on which it is desired to wind wire turns, to pull a length of wire attached to said closed loop on said pulleys to form an adjacent loop, the improvement comprising means for maintaining said closed loop on said pulleys as said pulleys are rotated, means affording successive removal of said adjacent loop from each one of said pulleys after said adjacent loop is formed thereon to wrap turns on said workpiece as said pulleys continue to be rotated including and associated with each pulley a disc member, means for supporting each said disc member to be rotatable on the same axis as its associated pulley, and magnetic means embedded in a side of the pulley to attract said associated disc member thereto to be rotatable therewith.

References Cited in the iile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 751,816 Strong Feb. 9, 1904 2,185,883 Berger Ian. 2, 1940 2,865,573 Tarara et al Dec. 23, 1958 FOREIGN PATENTS 523,338 Great Britain July 11, 1940 639,177 Great Britain June 2l, 1950 280,378 Germany Nov. 12, 1914 503,525 Germany July 24, 1930 

